NetGear Orbi 970 Series Quad-band WiFi 7 Mesh Black Edition Review

A Closer Look

This is easily the most expensive router bundle we’ve ever had in the office. OK, only because it’s a bundle, but when each satellite unit can cost around £800 each, and there are two along side the base unit, it’s not hard to see how this can get extremely expensive very quickly. That being said, they look like expensive products, with that matte black stealthy finish and tall form factor, they’re pretty interesting. Of course, they’re also somewhat understated, as these need to blend into your home too.

They’re designed with a three-sided main body that sits on a circular base. This shape makes them easy to place on a shelf, windowsill, next to a computer, etc, and they’re not going to take up too much space.

What’s bonkers about this, is how minimalist it all feels. There’s an extreme amount of high-end hardware here, but short of a couple of ports, you almost would not know it.

There’s a 10G Ethernet port on the back here, as well as 10G internet port. I must humble brag that I’m lucky enough to have internet that runs at 8000/8000Mbps (8Gb each way) so I can use almost all of that speed. If you only have say, 1000Mbps internet, the Orbi Black doesn’t really make much sense at all, and a WiFi 6E model would more than cover your needs. Considering these can manage a max network speed of 27000 Mbps (obviously not from a single device, but combined with multiple devices), as well as wireless distributing 10 GbE and 2.5 GbE inputs and outputs, you’ll need the latest laptops, motherboards, phones, consoles, etc, to really tap into all of it.

The satellite units look identical to the hub unit, at least from the front and sides. However, on the back, you’l find they have fewer inputs.

There’s a 10G ethernet port, as well as a pair of 2.5G ports. Again, this is quite clever, as you can wire devices into the satellite units, and they benefit from a more direct connection, but they’re still wirelessly connected to the hub unit using WiFi 7.

The idea here is obvious, you put the main hub at the point of access for your fibre internet, and place the other two further way. Say you have the hub in your living room, the first satellite in your kitchen, and the second one upstairs. This ensures you’re never far away from a strong and high-speed WiFi signal.

This means that mobile devices (such as the Pixel 9 Pro here) can get full speeds of their WiFi anywhere in the home.

While networked devices can be maxed out too.